House vote drives transportation funding bill into ditch

25 in House absent when bill falls short by 16 votes

The path to more transportation funding in Texas got a lot longer Monday, when a compromise plan worked out over the weekend was scuttled by House members.

Lawmakers voted down a plan to split oil and gas production money between the state's economic stabilization fund and highway spending. It needed 100 votes to pass and got 84. At least 25 members were absent for the vote.

The House and Senate have a few short hours to sway enough voters and quickly pass the bill over the strong opposition of some skeptics. The session ends at midnight Tuesday.

"Frankly, it would be very difficult to try to get bodies who weren't here or convince a few into changing their vote," said Rep. Joe Pickett, one of the backers of the failed plan.

The House and Senate are scheduled to reconvene Tuesday at 2 p.m., with the Senate on pace to pass the bill even if the House does not, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said.

The rebuke of a compromise plan worked out this weekend means a third special session may be on the horizon.

"I'll let the governor speak to the timing, but he's made it very, very clear that if this transportation bill is not passed, he'll bring us back," Dewhurst said.

In a statement, House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, cautioned that another special session may not end the standoff.

"Legislators know that Texas needs a much more comprehensive approach to funding our growing state's growing transportation needs, and another 30-day special session will not change that," Straus said. "Until members are free to consider real options - beyond simply shuffling taxes from one purpose to another - we will not find a responsible solution to this issue."

Dewhurst said Straus has made it clear waiting may cause the crisis to build and increase pressure on lawmakers to raise taxes two years from now.

"As I've told him several times, I don't see that in the cards," Dewhurst said.

Straus spokesman Jason Embry said that the speaker knows Dewhurst has had a tough time lately. "But he has a different recollection of their private conversations and stands by his statement today that Texas needs serious, comprehensive transportation solutions."

$5 billion estimate

The compromise plan, based on a proposal by Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, would split the oil production revenues between the so-called rainy day fund and transportation spending. To protect the rainy day fund, the Legislative Budget Board, an 18-member commission of lawmakers that oversees state finances, will set a minimum needed for the rainy day fund each year. If revenues are projected below that level, the board could recommend the money not be transferred to transportation funds.

Supporters of the transportation plan said the need for road work is so dire - transportation officials have estimated they need an additional $4 billion annually and another $1 billion for rural roads torn up by oil and gas production - that time is of the essence to getting more road money.

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"The problem is only going to get worse," said House Transportation Committee Chairman Larry Phillips, R-Sherman.

Though the plan would have raised about $848 million per year, less than a quarter of the purported need, supporters called it a great first step and the biggest infusion of steady money for transportation in two decades.

'The floor is gone'

Fiscal hawks, such as Sen. Donna Campbell, R- New Braunfels, said the need to fund transportation outweighed their concerns about further protecting the rainy day fund.

"The more money we have for transportation, the less dependent we are on toll roads," Campbell said, noting she would like to see tougher rainy day fund protection.

The compromise plan drew opposition from both those who demanded a stronger minimum cap, often referred to as a floor, and those opposed to any limitation.

"At the end of the day the floor is gone," said Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston.

House members attacked the plan on numerous fronts, with some opposing it for having a minimum while others said the minimum guarantees were not strong enough.

Ultimately, many defected because the plan raised too many disastrous possibilities, without doing enough good.

"I would hate to see us pass bad legislation when we could do better than this," said Rep. George Lavender, D- Texarkana.

Rep. Van Taylor, R-Plano, one of two dozen Republicans to oppose the plan, said he feared using rainy day money would hurt the state's credit rating, and force him to compromise on promises to reign in spending.

The lack of consensus drew rebukes from supporters of the plan, including Gov. Rick Perry.

"Legislators have been in Austin for nearly seven months now, and to go home without dealing with one of the most pressing issues facing all Texans is simply unacceptable," Perry said in a statement.

Perry's statement did not address whether he would call another 30-day special session if lawmakers fail to agree Tuesday.